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Introduction

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Liberation Technology in El Salvador

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Abstract

This chapter introduces the goal of the book: to understand whether and how alternative media in El Salvador incorporated digital technologies, online social media in particular, for social change, and whether incorporating said technologies changed citizen participation not only in the media process but also in a broader discursive sphere as well as in civic and political life. In other words, what factors influenced the extent to which alternative media producers managed to use digital tools in liberating ways, opening a space for participation in technology (as content producers) and through technology (as engaged citizens)?

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This research was funded with an Inter-American Foundation Grassroots Development Fellowship.

  2. 2.

    I use the terms “legacy” or “traditional” to identify analog media outlets, such as printed newspapers or radio, as opposed to digital/online, “new” media outlets. For the purposes of this book, alternative media (as opposed to mainstream) can be traditional media or digital “new” media.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Communication, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

    Summer Harlow

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Harlow, S. (2017). Introduction. In: Liberation Technology in El Salvador. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48039-8_1

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